


The Three Rules of Organized Crime

by inadistantworld



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, F/M, First Meetings, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied Scanlan/Grog, Organized Crime, background Vax/Keyleth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 01:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12877587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inadistantworld/pseuds/inadistantworld
Summary: They work for a man named Gilmore. Gilmore is a simple man, an honest man, a good friend, and your average (who are we kidding? Well above average) crime boss. And his best workers all live together. Scanlan, the liar, can make any problem disappear with a fake mustache and some pretty words. He can also make problems appear for people you aren't so fond of. Pike and Grog are the best muscle you've ever seen. They often work together but are available apart, but really why would you only want one? If you don't want problems to arise, you bring them along. One look and anyone who was looking to start shit will rethink their plans. And if they're not smart enough to stop, well then they'll make them. Vex and Vax, known in the underworld as The Twins, known for both skilled protection and murder. Mostly murder. If you want a problem gone permanently, you ask for The Twins.Percival de Rolo is a young, rich business man whose family was murdered when he was younger. He escaped and hid for years, but now he's back. And so are his enemies.The Twins receive two contracts one night. Protect Percy by any means necessary, and kill Percival de Rolo.The job only gets more complicated from there.





	The Three Rules of Organized Crime

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you! This fic is being posted for hitting 20,000 hits (it also puts me exactly on 200,000 words) and it's a fic I've had on my mind for a while. I meant to do something like this for Rarepair week, it was going to be Gilmore, Vax'ildan, and Percy instead of my usual Perc'ahlia and a very different plot (Gilmore was still the big man but Vax and Percy were both hitmen and Gilmore set them up on the same target so they'd meet) but I thought this would be fun to post for this kind of big thing for me. You guys have been great and I wanted to do something exciting. I've been working on it for a while so it would be ready when I hit 20 thousand, which is also why I haven't posted much else (don't wanna screw up that word count either).  
> I will apologize (?) because originally it was going to have an explicit scene because, ya know, that's not all I do but that's what I do most on here. It got cut for the word count and also because like, this project was kind of long and I'm hitting finals and projects and stuff right now and I've had major writer's block (I hope I hide it well in this) lately that I'm literally pushing my way through. So like the smutty bit was the first thing to go 'cause it's long and I wasn't feeling super great about it and like, I'd rather have plot in this because I built it up to be this big thing and I didn't wanna just like, cut the last half so there could be some bad smut. Anyways, I'm done rambling, I just wanted to say thank you so much for getting me to this point and I hope this is something fun for you to read!

The first rule was don’t become attached to the mark.

Contrary to popular belief there weren’t many rules to bodyguarding or assassination, but the most important and more dangerous one to break was never forget that the mark is only a mark. A job. A body without a face. In protection and murder the best thing you can do is see them as a dollar sign.

Of course Vex’ahlia knew there were exceptions to this rule. Once she protected a young woman from a lot of terrible men who were trying to stop her from testifying in court. There was no way to avoid emotion the whole time, and while not allowing emotion to cloud your judgement was the first law of her work, the second was not to avoid it completely. At least when it was a benefit to the job. Protection was best with a hint of care, assassination was best knowing reasons why someone deserved to die and not knowing what their children looked like. But you could see better when you didn’t know everything, pick and choose the information you take in. They didn't have a name, just a dollar amount.

Vex’ahlia, for the most part, was good at knowing when emotion should and should not come into play. There were times Vax had a harder time, times where Pike couldn’t do it at all. Grog of course was very good at keeping emotion out, he was there for excitement and money, but didn’t have the caring touch. You sent Grog to send a message. Scanlan was good when it didn’t get too personal, a quick job without too much interaction, he had a habit of secretly getting invested. But Vex was the very best at the balancing act.

 

Gilmore was on the steps of the apartment of what he loving referred to as his A Team on a Thursday night with a handful of brightly colored folders. He was expected of course, Thursday nights were blocked off on the schedule specifically for Gilmore, so it was only seconds before Vax opened the door.

Gil smiled warmly, “Ah, what a lovely sight to see so early in the night.”

Vax waved him in, “You know you don’t always have to wait for Thursday to see me, I can always make time for you.”

“Get a room,” Vex teased and kissed Gilmore on the cheek, “Hello darling, it feels like ages since you were last over.”

“Only a week,” he pecked her cheek and glanced at the others that were coming into the foyer.

“Well if we waited a week we can wait a little longer to get to business,” Vax took the folders from him and dropped them on a small table next to the door that was used for keys. This was typically how it went on Thursdays but everyone still looked forward to it. Dinner and conversation with their friend.

Dinner that night was pasta. Afterwards they moved to the living room where they talked and told stories. Scanlan played one of his various instruments and sang dirty songs in Grog’s direction, who laughed heartily and drank eagerly. But eventually Gilmore had to sigh and say it was indeed time for business and they all moved to the office upstairs and took their usual places.

Vax sat in an armchair by the window, Vex stood beside him, leaning against the wall. Pike and Grog stood behind Scanlan’s chair, both of them with their arms crossed over their chests and trying to look as intimidating as possible before they broke down laughing. Scanlan had his legs crossed and his hand under his chin as he waited for Gilmore to dole out assignments.

“Alright…first we’ve got some hired muscle,” he tossed a red folder to Grog and a yellow one to Pike. “Someone wants the two of you to stand around and look big and scary. Mostly for show but there will be an exchange, so be ready just in case, but it shouldn’t come to that. I’m sure you’re both up for it. Try not to draw too much blood, will you?” He looked pointedly at Grog but there was a glint in his eye that said he wasn’t being very serious. Pike would be there, and whenever Pike was involved things went smoothly. “And infiltration,” a purple folder landed in Scanlan’s lap, “police might have something on one of our guys, I don’t want them to have it anymore.”

Scanlan grinned wickedly and put his finger up over his lip, “Burt Reynolds is on the case.”

Gilmore rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything else about it. Instead he turned to the twins. He looked at them for a while without saying anything. There was a blue folder and a green one in his hands still. Even as he spoke he didn’t hand them over, like he was still deciding if wanted make it official. “We’ve got something interesting this time. Bodyguard and assassination.”

Vex shook her head, “We’re a team. We work better together than apart, you know this,” she warned lightly. Last time they were split up Vax almost got into some real trouble and she wasn’t ready to let that happen again yet.

“I know, I know. You’ll be together. This is two jobs on the same person.”

“Wait, what do you mean?” Vax asked and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. Vex had pushed off the wall and was waiting for him to hand over the folder, itching for the details in it.

He tossed the folders to them and they immediately flipped them over and began skimming as he talked. “Percival de Rolo. Last living de Rolo. Word is the Briarwoods used another company last time to take care of the rest of his family and they fucked up, left one alive. Percival disappeared for years and has recently come back into the lime light, talking about building the de Rolo name again. He’s going to become a very visible target, he’s doing speeches, meetings, that sort of thing. He’s hired us while he transitions from secrecy to high profile. So it’s your job to keep him alive for his month long contract. No matter what.”

“He doesn’t want us doing anything to find the Briarwoods or to handle them in any way? This is just protection?” Vex asked as she looked over his history. Family murdered in his early teens, clean job, barely any evidence to go on, almost perfect. Of course they made the worst mistake and let one get away.

“No. I have a feeling he’s hoping to scare this off or he’ll hire someone for it later. That’s not our business. You’re around to make sure nobody gets a clear shot on him.” Gilmore paused and Vex looked up at him curiously. “The night this contract ends, at 12:01 the next day we have a new contract. One with the Briarwoods and they want Percival dead. Now normally I’m not a fan of this kind of thing, this backstabbing. But they dropped even more money than de Rolo did and technically I have no reason to turn them down. If they’d come to us first we would have taken it. If we do this job right nobody ever knows it was us. That’s your second job.”

Vax nodded, flipped to another page in his folder. “It’s a good situation. This guy’s going to have top notch security, it would have taken over a week to find the best way to do it. This way we’re right in with him, we’ll have every weakness at our fingertips and he’ll trust us by the end.” He closed his folder and nodded, “Should be easy.”

She stared at his picture on the next page for a while as Grog and Pike discussed outfit choices for their job. They were going to match it seemed, Scanlan was offering to do Grog’s eyeliner if he wanted. Percy was…typical she supposed. Blue eyes with a harsher than normal look, but then again he was hiring from Gilmore which meant he wasn’t exactly clean and nobody in this kind of life had kind eyes. He wore a tie with an intricate knot, a pocket square, a clean shave, his hair styled in the pretentious way of making it look like he didn’t put as much effort into it as he did. The only mildly interesting thing about him was that he had white hair. Not white like it had been bleached, but white like snow. Handsome but nothing special.

She repeated those words many times before she went to bed. Handsome but nothing special. Don’t become too attached, don’t distance yourself too much. Walk the line. Handsome but nothing special. His file showed he was a good enough guy, but certainly not perfect.

 

Vax was lacing up his boots three days later, the hilt of one of the many knives he kept on him poking out. He of course had a gun as well, but he liked knives. Quiet, simple, easy to use up close. But he was familiar with the rule of don’t bring a knife to a gun fight, and protection was always a gun fight. “Are you good?” He asked after a while.

“Of course I am, you know I’m the better twin.”

“I mean it Stubby.” Vax looked up at his sister with a very serious look, “This isn’t the usual job. I know you’re good, but this would get to anyone. Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“Vax,” Vex turned to him, her hand on her hip and a deadly look in her sharp eyes, “He’s a paycheck. I’m more worried about you, you’re the one with a history of taking it personally.”

He smiled weakly and nodded, “Alright, alright. Let’s get out of here, make sure our meeting place is secure before he shows up. The last thing we need is someone taking him out as he gets out of his car.”

 

Vax and Vex spent almost an hour making sure the parking garage was safe. Surprisingly, there was nothing of concern. Usually there was something, the meetup was a good place to make an attempt on someone’s life. Vex had certainly done it before. Most people didn’t think their job started then, they didn’t look carefully enough. But things looked good this time.

And then a black car came into the almost empty garage and parked. A few moments later the driver’s door opened and she came out.

“Didn’t see any information on her,” Vex mused quietly as she scanned the woman carefully.

“She’s not the job.” Vax’s voice to anyone else would have sounded disinterested, but Vex was an expert on her brother and there was the slightest hint of curiosity behind it. Already a bad sign Vex thought but didn’t say anything.

The woman was tall, thin but obviously in shape and could probably kill a man if it came down to it. Dangerous for sure. Pretty though. She had red hair that fell past her shoulders and bright eyes that surveyed the garage as she walked to one of the back doors. She opened it as she made eye contact with the twins and nodded, a smile touching her lips.

Perhaps not as dangerous as Vex initially thought. She seemed worse than Vax in terms of getting too emotional for her own good so early on.

Out stepped a—well a golden man. He wasn’t made of gold of course, but his long hair was shiny and yellow and his goatee was perfectly trimmed and his eyes flashed with excitement and his clothes simply exclaimed how rich he was and his general demeanor showed how little he understood about it.

“There’s a man just asking to be robbed if I’ve ever seen one,” Vax remarked quietly and Vex smiled but didn’t reply.

 “My goodness, this feels just like a movie!” The gold man laughed and touched something at his ear, “Doty! Take this down,” he cleared his throat and said, “Keyleth opened the car door and revealed them, the Twins. Well known in their shady business, the best money could buy. Attractive and lithe, deadly and yet that only added to my—”

“I don’t think now is the time, Tary.” The voice was light but stern and the man who owned it shut the door to the passenger side. He buttoned his jacket and raised an eyebrow at the two small, dangerous people he had hired.

“Oh, of course. Doty, stop recording!” Tary said with a wide grin and stepped away from the door so Keyleth could shut it.

He walked around the car to stand on the same side as the other two, maybe thirty feet from the twins. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked them up and down. “Vex’ahlia and Vax’ildan I presume?”

His shock of white hair, wavy and unkempt but in a way that must have been purposeful, gold rimmed glasses, intense blue eyes, sharp angles. It was him. Percival Something Something de Rolo the third or whatever. And there was a slight issue. He was much more handsome in person.

Vax was very clearly not happy when he said, “We didn’t know we’d be protecting more than just you. We aren’t—”

“You’re not protecting them. They’re my companions of course, and they live with me, they might attend meetings with me, and I am not hiding anything from them, but I have full faith in their ability to protect themselves. Of course they’ll likely benefit from your presence, but in the end I want your focus on me.” Tary and Keyleth were on either side of him and for a moment they looked like his protection and not his friends.

“You should have included them into your offer. We would have been able to count them into our preparations.” Vax didn’t like when people made his job harder like this.

“I’m sorry to pull this card so early, but you work for me. These two do not concern you. And I won’t be selling their information so easily. If you can’t handle that, then I can find someone else.”

The words hung in the air. Nobody moved for a long time and then Vax looked at Vex. She shrugged and he huffed, crossed his arms over his chest, and said, “Alright, Pretty Boy. You’ve got a deal. But if they die,” he directed his gaze mostly to Tary, “That’s not on us.”

“Wonderful.” Percy walked forward and stopped in the middle. Keyleth and Tary stayed behind.

Vex moved instinctually, not looking at her brother (though she knew he wasn’t going to do it anyways) and when she stood in front of him she held her hand out to him.

He smiled, a charming, perfect smile. He didn’t do anything for a long moment and then he shook it. “I look forward to our time together.”

“I’ll try and make it as uneventful as possible, dear,” she said lightly.

Vax cleared his throat and took his place beside his sister, eyeing Percy warily. “I believe we should start at your home. We need to decide what changes need to be made and know what weaknesses there are.”

Keyleth, her voice almost timid but still the way a boss would inform an employee, “I don’t think there’s any need for you to do that.”

“Don’t worry Keyleth, we hired them. It’s only right they look around. I’m sure you’ll keep an eye on them for me. Keyelth is, for lack of a better term, head of my personal security. A handful of guards usually, but I’ve given them paid time off for the month. Unfortunately I’m in the middle of some dealings where I can’t afford to trust many people. Keyleth is the only one still on site.” Percy waved his hand back to the car and everyone followed. He walked around to the passenger seat and Vex cleared her throat.

Vax opened the door to the backseat and said, “We really must insist that you sit in the back between the two of us. It’s harder to take a shot from a building as we pass by, you’re less of a target. Tary can sit in the front.”

Percy raised his eyebrows and looked at the two newly hired bodyguards carefully. They both had long hair, angular features, the same eyes, perhaps Vax was a touch taller, but they were nearly identical. Other than Vax’s harsh, distrusting gaze versus his sister’s intrigued and almost playful look.

Percy nodded stiffly, shifted his eyes away from Vex, and said, “Yes of course.” He ducked his head and slid into the backseat.

Tary stood very still, his eyes wide as if just realizing what that meant for him, and Vex threw him a wink. “Don’t worry Goldie, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” and got in after Percy.

Vax shut the door after her and crossed to the other side of the car, “Come on, we’ve got to get going. The less time we’re out and about the better.”

Tary shook off the sudden concern for his life the way he always did. He smiled and said, “Doty, take this down. As the Twins informed me of the danger that I—”

“Tary,” Keyleth said firmly and nodded to the car, “Later.”

“Doty, pause,” Tary said as he got into the car, feeling moderately braver, and Keyleth dropped into the driver’s seat with an easy familiarity.

 

For the rest of the day Vex and Vax went through the house, every nook and cranny, checking for weak points and making sure nothing was out of place. Percy made it easy, gave them open access to anywhere they wanted except his workshop. That had been a fight, Percy assured them that he was the only one with access to it and that it was the safest place in the entire building. Vex and Vax said nowhere was safe, even with the two of them around. Percy said if there was always going to be danger then it didn’t really matter. Percy, as the employer, won.

Keyleth had been a tremendous help. Something Vex had…mixed feelings about. As a person, she was awkward and funny, she had a strong moral compass that could get in the way of the dirty part of Vex’s work though. She was professional security, it was legal and it was for good reasons. Vex was responsible for a number of very illegal hits and her methods of protection weren’t much cleaner. But that wasn’t really the heart of Vex’s hesitancy about Keyleth. Vex’s problem was that Keyleth had an effect on Vax.

Vax was a good person, he always had been. And he had always been the more…open twin. His emotions were not necessarily deeper, but he hid them less and they could affect him more. Vex liked to think she had a switch, she could separate her emotions from the job when she needed to. Vax had a harder time. He did his best work when it was from a great distance and in the dark where he couldn’t see the faces of those who might care about what he did.

Keyleth was a problem in that regard. She was bright, bubbly, happy, she said exactly what she thought, there was no filter, but most of her thoughts were kind and lovely. Keyleth was the kind of person that made someone just smile and feel warm. She was also the kind of person who made you want to be better. And that was Vex’s issue. She had a sneaking suspicion that Keyleth was going to make the job much harder for Vax.

Vax had similar fears about his sister. It was towards the end of the month that Vax said something.

“This Percival guy,” Vax said quietly as they walked down a long hall. They were doing a walkthrough of the building Percy was having a meeting about future business in a few hours.

“Percy,” Vex said, walking a couple steps behind. She had keener eyes but he was better with something immediately dangerous.

Vax grunted. “You don’t think you’re getting too close to him?”

“I could ask the same about Keyleth,” she sounded distracted, like she was too focused on the search to really talk, but Vax knew better.

“That’s different.” He didn’t try and deny it.

“How?”

“She’s not the mark for one thing. And this guy…there’s something he’s not telling us.”

“You know me, Vax. I can handle it, I always put the job first. Percy isn’t anything special. He’s a nice guy, not terrible to look at, but he’s a job and I know that. Are you sure Keyleth isn’t clouding your judgment?” The words were sharp as they left her lips and for a second she almost regret saying them, but Vax was questioning her commitment and dammit she was allowed to be angry about it.

“I’m just worried about you is all,” Vax said softly, “he’s…very charming. I wouldn’t blame you for being a little caught up in that. Just be careful.”

“I’m fine, Vax,” she growled and pressed past him to check a nearby room.

There was nothing too worrisome in the building, a few things that were routine to get rid of or look at closely, but they turned out to be nothing. They pat down the three men Percy was meeting who all had at least one bodyguard with them that went unfrisked.

“I’ll get de Rolo and Tary,” Vax said quietly when the decided the room was secure enough.

Vex waited in the room with the others, scanning them over slowly. They had good poker faces for anyone who wasn’t Vex. They were suspicious and on guard of course, but nothing that worried her.

Vax came back with Percy and Tary looked around in awe, speaking to Doty, the AI he had designed. It reminded her of Jarvis from Iron Man and she had a feeling that’s where the idea came from. Percy’s eyes met Vex’s and a smile touched his lips. She looked away and focused her attention on one of the business men. Keyleth had stayed with the car, bringing too much security never looked good.

Percy was checked over by one of the other professionals in the room under Vex’s watchful gaze. The beefy, bald man nodded to the others and it seemed to be accepted as he took a step back. Percy straightened his jacket and stood at the head of the table with Tary at his side. “Hello everyone. Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice, I’m sure you can understand the…less than ideal circumstances I’m in. And as much as I trust my people,” Vex expected him to look up at her but he remained firmly focused on the soft, business men. “I think this business is best handled with just the five of us.”

 “Our protection will stand outside then, while we talk as friends?” One asked.

“Of course. You’ll be able to call them in at any moment you desire, all of us have been checked for weapons, and we are here for business. I would like that we leave as partners, and I believe the best business is done without guns in the room.” He had a charming smile. Believable probably, but Vex had seen some of his work. Over the last three weeks they had warmed to each other. It was what made Vax so concerned, they spent a lot of time together without thinking about work. Percy had shown her his own designs, even a prototype of his next invention for a gun. He called it Bad News, a little joke they both liked more than they admitted. And he had hired them from a company that more or less believed guns were a part of doing business, and the others in this room had similar ideas, but business was also about making everyone else in the room feel like your best friend, and Percy was doing a good job of it.

The others agreed and all six of the hired help stepped out into the hall and waited for the meeting to finish in silence. Two hours later the door opened and one by one they filed out and were escorted back to their fancy cars with their drivers to go home to their unnecessarily large houses.

Percy called Keyleth to ask her to pull the car around and they waited in the lobby for a few minutes while they waited.

“I know they were all bigger than us but if it had come down to it we would have won,” Vex said while they waited for the silver car to come up.

Percy laughed, “I have no doubt about it. Even without knowing your reputation anyone could see you were the one to put money on.”

Vax pretended not to see the soft look in Percy’s eyes when he looked at Vex. He pretended not to hear the teasing darlings and dears batted between them or notice the ting of pink that colored Percy’s ears and the back of his neck. Vax found the entire thing ridiculous and obvious and most definitely distracting from their work, but wasn’t the time to say anything about that.

A silver car pulled up and Keyleth stepped out. She smiled and waved to the window when she saw Vax, who couldn’t help but drop the sour face and wave a little back. “Come on, let’s get going.”

The walk from the door to the car was maybe twenty steps. Vax smiled at Keyleth, found himself staring far too deeply into her eyes. She was everything he couldn’t afford to have, especially in the middle of something like this, but she was also someone he was drawn to. And while Vax thought about Keyleth and tried not to think about how in less than a week he would never see her again, Vex was talking to Percy.

He said something that made her laugh, her eyes fluttered shut and when she opened them again she cast a look around. It was not a working look, it was just a glance while she tried not to make eye contact with him for a few seconds out of fear that it would show. The sick feeling that sometimes filled her with the knowledge of what she had to do in a couple days. And in this pointless glance she saw a flash. Perhaps a reflection of something or a light going out somewhere. Probably nothing. But Vex’s body moved without thought, years of being in this life taught her to act on her instinct immediately, worry about the consequences later.

She pushed Percy down to the ground, the lean man was caught off guard and went down without an issue. A cry ripped from her lips and her entire body jerked. Her hand grabbed at her stomach and when Vax turned to see what had happened he saw blood spreading across her shirt.

“Vex?” He ran to her and she pushed him off, her hands slippery and wet.

“Percy—car,” Vex gasped and pushed her brother to the white haired man on the ground.

Keyleth was already at his side, helping him up. Tary was just shouting, screaming may have been a better word, “Oh my god!” over and over.

Percy’s eyes were wide, his feet weren’t moving, and he was just staring at Vex. Keyleth was having to drag him away, far too slowly for Vex’s mind. And with only one side covered. She half pushed at Vax again but he grabbed her shoulders, “Vex’ahlia!” He was in a state of panic, “Vex!”

“Vax,” she pushed him harder this time and his hands finally let go of her, “Get the door,” and she stumbled to Percy’s side to provide a little more cover.

Seconds later she was on her knees, her shoulder in searing pain and her vision white. A door slammed shut, Keyleth shouted something, strong hands grabbed at her and she was pulled into the backseat. Another door slammed shut and there was a screech as the tires spun on the street.

“Oh gods, Keyleth, we have to go to the hospital,” that was Tary’s voice.

“No,” Vex gasped out, “Pike.”

And her vision went black.

“Pike?” Percy tried to shake her shoulder, “Vex, Vex stay with me.”

Vax was already on the phone, “Keyleth, take us back to the house,” he said as the phone rang.

“What? No, she’s got to get to a hospital!” Keyleth ran a red light and horns blared around them.

“The less paperwork with our names on it the better. I’ve got someone who can—Pike?” He paused as the person on the other line spoke, “Vex was shot. She’s unconscious, we’re going to the de Rolo house. We need you there now.” Another pause. “He’s fine. Shooter from the roof, rookie mistake.” Silence. “No.” He nodded. “See you soon, Pickle. Thank you.” He hung up and pressed his hand to his sister’s abdomen. “Percival, if you don’t start trying to stop the bleeding I’ll throw you back out there for them.”

Percy didn’t really hear him, didn’t recognize the danger, and if he had registered it he would have known that Vax likely didn’t mean it. He did shift to give himself a better angle to put his hands on her shoulder, which he decided was where his attention was best at the moment.

Vax carried Vex inside while Keyleth ran down to Percy’s tinkering room and Tary threw up outside. He had told them it was the best place, it was the safest place in the entire house. Percy held doors open for Vax while they made their way down and when they got there Keyleth had already cleared off the table.

“Set her down here,” she said with an unusually sure voice. In any other moment Vax would have swooned. He lay her down on the table and she waved him back and went about doing what she could. Basic bandaging and applying pressure, she was by no means a doctor but her work had given her some experience in this kind of thing.

Keyleth did what she could, which was a fair amount, until Pike came through the door. Small, hair so blonde it was almost white, a dark pink scar that ran down her eye, and a soft, worried expression. “Oh Vex,” she said quietly as she rushed over to her. “I got here as soon as I could, what happened?”

“She—she pushed me out of the way. She took two bullets for me. She—” Percy cleared his tightening throat and closed his eyes.

Pike’s hand touched his arm and when he opened his eyes he almost found religion, because how could someone look at Pike in a moment of need and not feel like everything was going to be alright? Sarenrae worked through her in such an obvious way that even Percy had a hard time shrugging off the feeling. “This isn’t your fault,” she said softly. She was wrong, but Percy nodded anyways.

Pike moved to Vex’s side and looked up at the four anxious onlookers, “Everyone out. I need to work and I need all of you to take care of yourselves, make dinner, take a nap, the job isn’t over yet,” she looked at Vax pointedly and then waved them out of the room.

Vax walked forward and kissed his sister’s forehead. He didn’t say it out loud, but as he walked out he made a vow to whatever gods were listening, he would do whatever it took to protect his sister.

Keyleth’s fingers brushed Vex’s hand as she passed by. “You’re going to be okay,” she said quietly before following Vax out, and she believed it.

Percy was the last to leave. He stood close to her but didn’t touch her. Just looking down at her as Pike got her things together. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Pike pretended not to hear him, instead focused on washing her hands in Percy’s sink. He cleared his throat and said a little louder for Pike, “Whatever you need I can get. She can’t die because of me.” And he left without waiting for her to assure him that she wouldn’t.

When the door shut behind him and Pike walked back to Vex and began cutting away Keyleth’s bandages to start the real work. “He has no idea, does he Vex?” She filled a syringe with a thick liquid and found a good vein for Vex. “You’ve certainly fooled him, but I worry about you. You’ve always been the best,” Pike’s eyes flicked up to the door before back down to Vex and she picked up a very intimidating tool, “but it’s only a matter of time before someone slips behind those walls.”

Vex, Keyleth, Tary, and Percy sat at the dining room table with a dark mood that lay thick in the air. Keyleth shifted uncomfortably and then asked, “Who is she?”

Vax nodded and looked down at his hands, “She works with us. We’re uh,” he laughed but it rang hollow, “we’re Gilmore’s best. The best of the best. And Pike is muscle, if you want someone to make sure nobody fucks with you, she’s the one you go to. But before Gil she was going to become a doctor. And when she started working with us he made sure he paid her way through school, helped her get a good fellowship for some experience, and then paid her a hell of a lot to stick with us. We get into a lot of tight spots, bullet wounds are a given in the field. You need a good doctor to keep an eye on us. Pike’s the best there is.”

They waited in silence after that for what felt like years, just waiting for Pike to come back up.

And when she did it was like a movie, she was wiping her hands on a towel, her hair pulled back in a loose bun, and a half smile touching her lips. “She’s fine. They were clean hits, nothing major. I need to call Gilmore and remind him to restock on your blood type though. She’s conscious but she’s still drugged up and needs her rest. You’re all overwhelming right now, so if you want to see her I have to insist that it’s just one at a time, at least until she’s more with us.”

Vax was out of his seat before she really finished talking. Pike smiled at Keyleth and Pike before following him down the stairs to Percy’s workshop again. She leaned against the wall beside the door, acting almost like a bouncer now, and just watched for a moment.

“Hey Stubby,” he said softly and held her hand.

She hummed and blinked slowly, “Usually you’re the one getting shot.”

He chuckled quietly, “Yeah, you’re not as good with it as I am, are you?” Which was true, as long as she was in the field she could pull through, but the second she wasn’t in the line of fire anymore she was down, and the painkillers always made her weird.

She shook her head and licked her very dry lips. “Is Percy okay?”

Vax huffed. “He’s fine. Which makes sense, it’s all his fault, so of course he’d be fine. I told him, I _told him_ , I didn’t like the location. No parking in the building, an open street with too many buildings we couldn’t keep track of, too many windows, everything about it was textbook wrong. And he just—”

“Vax, Vax,” Vex’s hand went to touch his cheek and she missed, having to try two or three times before she finally had her hand pressed over most of his face, “It’s not Percy’s fault. He didn’t know. I wasn’t—I wasn’t paying attention,” her mouth tasted weird and her eyelids drooped. Everything was fuzzy and strange. “Enough about Percy.”

Vax sighed, “Alright. Enough about Percy. How are you?”

She frowned, “I had a strange dream. Something had happened, you thought I was dead and it was Percy’s fault. And we were wearing strange clothes and there was a big box. And you made a promise to someone you called a raven bitch. And then I came back.”

“Sounds like you’ve been on the painkillers too long,” he said and smiled. He went to say something else but there was a hand on his arm that stopped him.

“You can come back later. She’s not fully here right now and she needs her rest. I’m only letting you guys in now because I know how you get,” she smiled playfully but there was the firmness behind it of a doctor.

Vax said his goodbyes and when he came up Percy was the next to visit.

“Percy,” Vex hummed when she saw him.

“Vex’ahlia, I’m so sorry. This is my fault, I should have listened to Vax.”

He kept talking, apologizing, promising things to make it right, blaming himself, but Vex wasn’t listening. She was just looking at him. Blue eyes deeper than any ocean she knew, white hair that was sticking up in places from where he ran his hand through it over and over again. He had a sharp jaw and strong calloused hands, not the hands she had expected when she read his file. His glasses were gold, she had always thought gold rimmed glasses looked kind of tacky, that there were better uses of gold and the money it cost to buy them, but Percy in anything other than those glasses would be wrong. Percy in anything but top quality was a crime. He was beautiful and Vex found that she didn’t hold his money against him.

“You’re the most handsome mark I’ve ever laid eyes on,” she felt her mouth moving, heard the words, but still wasn’t sure it had been out loud.

Percy fell silent and just blinked as he processed. Eventually he whispered, just barely loud enough for Vex to hear, “Vex’ahlia…”

“If we met outside, if I was never hired for you, if we were like real people, maybe I would have fallen for you. Gods who am I kidding? I already have.”

Percy opened his mouth, his rough hand went to reach for hers, and then there was a hand on his arm holding him back. “Percy, I think it’s time we let Vex rest. I think Keyleth and Tary should probably wait too.”

“Right. Yes. Of course.” Percy dropped his hand. He thought about saying something, even just goodbye or to say he was sorry again, but instead he just walked away.

He found Vax in the dining room with Keyleth and Tary. She stood but Percy shook his head, “Pike said she needs to rest. Vax, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Keyleth looked at him curiously, “Percy, I—”

“No, it’s okay. He should know. I haven’t been entirely honest with you or with Gilmore. When I came back into the public eye a year ago I came with a plan. I knew I was not exactly safe, I knew that the second I was on their radar again I was in their crosshairs. When I hired you as protection what I really needed was a lure. I hired from the best agency there is and I hired the best people from it. Because I wanted them to make a move. I was hoping to draw them out and kill them. You were the bait. And hopefully you were also going to be the snare, but I had…plans if you couldn’t take care of them. I never—the last thing I want is for anything to happen to Vex. Or you.” Percy lifted his chin in the way only a rich man who doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong, just could have done it better, can.

Vax was silent. Percy watched him clench and unclench his hands, he licked his lips, and just stared at a spot on the table.

Tary spoke first, “We thought they’d try something more personal, that they’d want to make sure it went will this time.”

“I need to talk to my sister and Gilmore before we say anything else about this.” His voice was hollow and he couldn’t look at them. Not even at Keyleth. He couldn’t be mad, he had lied too. His lie might even be worse. But it wasn’t his place to make the call on what to do next, not alone.

He didn’t wait for them to agree, he just stood and left. He went to his room or the library or maybe to the roof, wherever he went they didn’t follow. Keyleth looked like she wanted to, but Percy told her it was best to let him be. That he needed some time to think, to talk to the people he worked with. That this was business and it couldn’t be clouded with emotion. Keyleth wanted to call him a hypocrite but then they would both feel even worse about it.

 

Vex was pulling on a black button up shirt when Vax walked in.

“Hey, Pike said you were up,” he said and took a seat across the room, looking anywhere but at her.

“Yeah. She’s packing up her things to leave.”

“Yeah. She said there’s a yellow folder with her name on it back at home.”

Vex began buttoning the shirt slowly, more occupied with her thoughts than getting dressed. “Just a couple more days on this contract.”

“Gilmore is…Gilmore is a good man.”

“Of course he is!” Vex looked at her brother with almost shock.

“This job. It’s not something he would normally do. He even said so himself, it felt like backstabbing. The only reason he said yes was it wasn’t technically against the rules, Percy never made a mention in his contract of future hits against him,” Vex nodded slowly, it was true. It wasn’t unusual for people to leave that out, but for someone as high target and paranoid as Percy was they usually made a mention and Gilmore would at it in. If Percy wanted to assure his safety from them he should have added a clause saying they couldn’t take a contract that made use of information gathered through this contract like other long term employers had. “I know you’re the best in the business, no arguments there, but this job was more than we planned.”

“We can’t exactly just drop it.”

“What if…what if we updated Percy’s contract? What if we gave Shaun, and us, an out?”

Vex ran her fingers through her hair to avoid looking at him. The last thing she wanted was to kill Percy, but what could they do? “Vax, what’s going on?”

“We aren’t the only liars in this house. But maybe we can make it so we can help Percy instead of killing him.”

Vax told his sister everything Percy had told him and he also gave her the base plan he had in mind. And together they called Gilmore. He took some convincing but it was quite clear that Vex wasn’t going to kill Percy and it was better for everyone to do this instead.

And then Vex went to Percy.

She stood at his door for a long time before she knocked. He opened it, standing in a pair of black sweatpants and a white shirt, his glasses a little farther down his nose than usual, and his hair stuck out on the right side where he put his hand when he was working. “You’re supposed to be sleeping,” she said lightly.

“I could say the same about you.” He smiled anyways though and stepped back to let her in the room. “Are you alright? I’m sorry about…about what happened.” Percy made no mention of what she had said before and she didn’t bring it up either, she had bigger issues.

“I’m fine. It’s not your fault.”

“It is, I—”

“Vax told me. That’s why I’m here actually. I need to tell you something as well.”

He frowned and his eyebrows scrunched together. “What is it?”

“Why don’t we sit?” Vex walked to one of the two armchairs beside the window and sat down. Percy had barely taken a seat before Vex began feeling antsy and had to stand again. “I lied.” The words blurred together and she felt sick saying them.

“I’m sorry?” He turned his head, confusion obvious on his face.

“I lied to you. Kind of. By omission. You weren’t the only one who hired us. The Briarwoods made a deal with Gilmore as well. The night your contract ends is the night we’ve been hired to kill you.”

“Oh.” He nodded slowly. “This…complicates things.”

“We didn’t think it would be an issue but, well, you’re much more handsome in person.” She laughed weakly. “But, your contract is open to adjustment. You’re allowed to request more time, which would push their contract back. And you hired us to protect you by any means necessary. If the Briarwoods threaten your life while we are close enough to do something about it, technically we wouldn’t be breaking any rules.”

“And they shot you tonight why?”

“We think it was to lower your guard. If they killed you tonight all the better, if not they hoped you would think they were trying to figure something else out. But if we extend your contract and tell them that we could get them close enough to kill you, we could turn it on them.”

“You’d be going through a lot just to keep me alive.” Percy stood up and moved to look out the window.

“Well, Vax and Keyleth are so close and I just—”

She didn’t realize what had happened until Percy’s hands were on her cheeks, drawing her in, and his lips were pressed against hers.

There was a third rule, closely related to the first, Vex realized as she kissed him back desperately. Don’t fall in love with the mark. But she was already breaking one, why stop now?

 

“You never said if you wanted to extend your contract,” she said later, her head on his chest and her fingers tracing swirls on his torso.

He smiled, “You really want to go through all of this to help me?”

“Of course!” She poked him in the side and he chuckled.

“Alright. We’ll extend the contract then.”

“I told you I was supposed to kill you and you kissed me,” Vex mused quietly.

“We did more than that, but…yes. I had my worries of course. Especially in the beginning. I won’t say I expected this to be the case, but I am not entirely surprised. When you told me though, well that was surprising. And if you were telling me, well then you weren’t going to do it. And I suppose I was tired of holding back from you.” Percy was looking at her like she was the only thing he wanted to look at for the rest of time.

The conversation drifted away from work after that and for a couple hours they just stayed in bed. Until Vex, who had been surprisingly careful, turned wrong and ripped a stitch and they had to go to Keyleth and get it fixed.

 

After the contract was properly amended Vax and Vex called the Briarwoods. They went to the roof with Scanlan and pulled out their phone and called the burner phone Gilmore had given to the Briarwoods in case the situation changed. They informed them of the second month added, which they expected pushback against but Delilah simply waved it off and said so long as he ended up dead she didn’t care.

Then Vex took the phone. “Mrs. Briarwood, after the attempt on Percy’s life yesterday—”

“I am so deeply sorry for that dear, I hope you know that it had nothing to do with you.” Her voice betrayed her real thoughts, she didn’t give a shit, if anything she was irritated it didn’t kill Percy.

“Of course, business is business. And had the contract stayed the same it would have been quite helpful. Now, however, he’s going to be on edge. My work is going to be much harder in another month. In the initial discussion you wished to be involved in the kill. And I must say, my dear coworker Scanlan has thought up a wonderful plan.” She passed the phone over to their resident liar.

“Ah, Delilah, can I call you Delilah?” There was a pause as she answered and Vex assumed by Scanlan’s face it was a very hard no. “Alright then. Now, Percy wants you dead, as you’re probably aware. We were not hired to kill you though, and it would ruin future business for us, so here’s the idea. Vex and Vax bring some friends along to make Percy feel safe, but they aren’t technically part of the deal. Then Vex and Vax walk away, pretend to be securing the rest of the building, and you come in. Technically there’s nobody there who has been hired to protect Percy, so you’re free to do as you wish. The only stipulation is that, since we would be making this possible, is you still pay us for it.”

“Hand the phone over, Scanlan,” Vax said a little loudly, likely heard by Delilah on the other end. “What do you think?” He was quiet as he listened. “Yes, if you wanted to bring along a little extra security that would be no problem. He would likely bring along his personal security, she’s not an issue, and a computer nerd.” Quiet again. “Alright, we’ll send you the details when we have a place.” Vax hung up and looked at his sister. “Alright, now we just need everything else to go according to plan.”

 

It was three days before they sent anything to the Briarwoods. Another four before they sent anything solid. And in two weeks they were standing in a parking garage.

“Tary, keep Doty off. We really can’t have them suspecting anything,” Vex warned him lightly before she looked at Percy. She almost kissed him but she knew better than anyone that you never knew what eyes were watching. Later, she promised herself. He’d be fine and she wouldn’t be far from him for long.

“Grog, Scanlan, Pike, stand outside the car. Look intimidating. The rest of you, stay inside. We’re going to do a sweep of the garage and the stairs, then make the call. Grog, Pike,” Vax stared at his friends with an intensity that often crossed his face, “Keep them safe.”

Scanlan gasped in mock offense, “Am I not strong enough to protect your lady love?”

Vax smiled, “You’re better at other things,” to which Scanlan nodded, “Vex’ahlia, it’s time for us to get to work.”

The garage was clean, nothing that flagged any real concern for the twins. The stairway had a camera, easily taken care of, and an almost well-hidden bug meant to record conversations and such. Vax crushed it under his foot, pulled out his phone, and dialed the Briarwoods.

They picked up on the second ring. All Vax said was, “We are inspecting the rest of the building for anything dangerous after deciding the garage is safe. We have left friends in charge of looking after Mr. de Rolo. What happens next is up to you,” and then he hung up without waiting for an answer.

They waited in the stairway, Vex peeking out of the door for any sign of them driving in. Fifteen minutes later a black car entered and parked on the opposite side of the room. Three figures stepped out, a driver with a hat that obscured most of her face and two extremely well dressed people, likely the Briarwoods but they were too far for Vex to tell for sure.

Pike elbowed Scanlan who was showing Grog a magic trick and nodded to the three approaching them. Her mouth moved and while Vex couldn’t hear she could see Pike was saying, “It’s them.”

Grog stood up straight, a huge pillar of muscle and intimidation, and turned toward them, which was a bad angle for Vex to see what he was saying. Grog grabbed the back door where Percy would be. Pike knocked on Keyleth’s window. Scanlan watched the scene unfold. Vex pulled her pistol and she knew from experience Vax was checking the sharpness of his blade as they waited. “There’s another,” she whispered, “their driver.”

“Not an issue,” he said quietly and stood up.

Grog ‘manhandled’ Percy out of the car. He made it look believable. He first just acted shocked, offended, and when he saw the Briarwoods he tried to assert his authority. And then he was angry. And then he was on his knees in front of them.

“Now,” she whispered and stepped back to let her brother out first. He crept out behind a car, she followed suit and took one on the other side. They began to flank the car, all the while listening to Delilah talk about how if she wanted a job done right she had to do it herself. The typical villain monologue.

Vax nodded to his sister, which was a good enough signal for her, and she looked up. The driver was holding a gun aimed at Percy. He didn’t look scared, to his credit. She watched his lips move, “After everything, Ripley, I forgive you.” And he closed his eyes.

It felt like there should have been a shot that rang out in the room, like the almost silent pop was too quiet to have happened. But there was simply the sound of the silenced pistol and the thump of a body as the driver, Ripley, dropped to the ground.

Delilah whipped around, “What—”

Pike, never one for silence, yelled and with what was essentially a police baton she struck Silas Briarwood in the ribs, knocking him to his knees. Keyleth was out of the car now as well and pointed her gun down at him. When he looked up he only saw the tall redhead holding her pistol down at him, her eyes wide but determined. He spat on the ground but didn’t move.

Vax threw a dagger from the other side, catching Delilah off guard since she was looking towards Vex. It caught her in the calf and took her to one knee. Vex stepped out from her cover and began walking toward the downed couple. She opened her mouth to say something but before she could say anything she saw Delilah’s hand move. She leapt out of the way as Delilah pulled out a gun and took a shot at her. It hit the window of the car behind her but missed Vex, which she was so grateful for because she hadn’t even fully healed from the last ones.

“You bitch!” Vex cried out. She got ready to take another shot when another dagger found the back of Delilah’s hand and she screamed. Her gun clattered to the ground and she cradled her hand to her.

Percy stood and dusted his pants off. Vex walked over and stood beside him. “I must say, I didn’t expect Anna Ripley to join you today,” Percy said smoothly. “I want to give you this chance. Leave. Disappear forever. Never let me see you again. Go now and it will be over.”

Vex looked at Percy with pure shock, this had not at all been the plan. There was no way they’d let him go like this, that they’d just live normal lives as middle class citizens. “Percy, I—”

“How about,” Silas said with a chilling voice, “you go fuck yourself?”

Delilah lifted her chin. “If you don’t kill us now, you’ll regret it, Percy.”

He tilted his head. “I expected nothing less. Keyleth.”

That shot did echo in the cement parking garage as Keyleth didn’t use a silencer, though even that was drowned out by Delilah’s scream.

She turned back to look at Percy and lunged forward at him, her hands reaching out like claws, and Vex took her shot.

Delilah fell halfway through her attack and laid motionless and her blood pooled around her.

“Scanlan, Grog, clean up the mess please. You know the drill,” Vex said as she put her gun away. She looked at Percy who was staring down at them without much emotion.

“Got it Vex,” Grog said gruffly and picked up both of the Briarwoods, which Scanlan watched with wide, impressed eyes and left Pike to grab Ripley. Scanlan eventually closed his mouth and ran off after them to help.

“Doty, take this down,” Tary said. He was standing outside of the car, watching the newly dead being carried away, and he began reciting his version of what had happened, which included him being much more active than cowering behind the car.

“Percy,” Vex said quietly, laying a hand on his arm. Vax and Keyleth were talking quietly as well, likely about something similar, but Vex paid them no mind. “Are you okay?”

He looked up at her slowly. “I—yes. They deserved it. And without them around now I can live out my life in peace. I am hoping to make this a better place. I suppose I trust you enough to tell you,” a smirk touched his lips, “The deal I’m working on right now is building a new company headquarters and my plan is to hire quite a lot of people in good jobs with good benefits where they can come up with creative ideas for helping the community. It’s going to be called Whitestone, the small town my family first came from, and we’re going to work on ways of building up the city.”

“That sounds wonderful, Percy,” she said quietly, a soft look in her eyes and a warm smile.

“Would you—would you like to be a part of it?” He rushed the words out, completely failing at not looking too eager.

It didn’t take much thought, the whole hitman thing was beginning to lose its charm. “Yes, I think I would.”


End file.
